South Ruby Campground

We camped here on September 12 after driving over Harrison Pass from Elko. The road over the pass is excellent and the scenery was gorgeous. We paid $8.50 with our senior pass. The sunrise view over the refuge, from behind our campsite, was beautiful. Perfect weather, cool in the shade but warm sun. We had hoped to see more birds in the refuge, but we were treated to a sighting of a huge pronghorn buck. There is interesting history here, as it was part of the California Trail, Hastings cutoff, and old Fort Ruby. The vault toilet was clean. There was 1 bar of cell service with US Cellular. The next day we drove north to Wells and the dirt/gravel part of the road was excellent.

This campground is your typical forest service campground, small sites. Especially the upper loop. There are some larger and wider sites in the upper loop if you’re lucky enough to reserve, when reserving you don’t know how wide they are.

We reserved a site in the Upper Lp per others suggestions. Not an optimal site for a trailer. We needed something long enough for our almost 29’ trailer (ball to bumper) with a slide-out. Th his site supposedly was, however, we scrapped both side of the trailer backing in (very narrow) and there is a tree at the very end of the back in site not allowing you to back you bumper over the curbing, which we typically do. In addition we couldn’t back all the way in because another tree blocked out slide out. Impossible to extend our awning too.

On top of all that, we like to sit outside at the picnic table and play games, NOT here. Site 24 is behind the toilets and the vent stack is not tall enough or something else is wrong. The wind blew in from multiple directions and when it blew our way, even in the trailer we could smell the toilets. Disgusting. Any sites around the toilet would have smelled because when we got water from across the street, we could still it.

If you’re lucky enough to get one of the handful of larger, wider sites in the upper loop, not by a toilet . . . Great. If not, stay in the lower section which accommodates larger rigs, but isn’t shady.

We enjoyed our stay here. We don’t fish, did some bird watching, floated in our tubes off the main boat dock, hiked up the canyon behind camp (about a mile) and drove a loop over Overland Pass around to Harrison Pass, enjoying the sites.

We drove in from the south and left to the north. Both directions were in great shape, no washboard, though some sections we had to slow to around 35mph with our rig.

With cell booster T-Mobile increased to 2-3 bars and LTE, but internet was ghastly slow. The booster didn’t help with Verizon.

The campground is nestled on a juniper-pinyon hillside and backing up to the Ruby Mountains. It overlooks the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge. There are two loops: Lower and Upper. We visited in early October and the Upper loop was closed and they were in the process of turning off the water in the campground. This meant that standard camping rates dropped to $8 a night. The campground was mostly full during our weekend stay due to hunters visiting for the opening of deer season.

There are sites that will fit most sized rigs. More of the large sites are located on the lower loop, though there are a few large sites on the upper loop as well. The upper loop is nestled in among the junipers and pinyons and most sites will get partial shade during the day. The lower loop is more open. But what spectacular views from the lower loop sites! You will be looking out over the Ruby valley and the wildlife refuge. The sunrise is spectacular.

There are a number of outdoor activities to do in the area. There is a trail that leads from the upper loop into the canyon behind the campground. Look for it behind the water tank. There is the wildlife refuge which is great for birdwatching and appears to be full of fish as well. Plus a trip to Smith Ranch Hot Springs is a great respite after a day of hiking in the Ruby Mountains.

South Ruby is remote. There are no services within 50-60 miles. Come with all you will need plus a bit extra. We drove in from Wells to the north and it was 30 miles of unpaved road. It was a good road and we could do a steady 40mph, but I would not want to drive it if it were wet. An alternative that reduces the amount of unpaved road is to come in via Elko and over Harrison Pass. I've been told that road is decent as well, though you are coming in over a mountain pass rather than the flat route from Wells.

FYI, there was a note on the information board suggesting that out of precaution one should boil the water. I would recommend making the drive here with a full fresh water tank. There is no place nearby to get potable water.

30 miles of washboard dirt road from the south. (Better from the north if you can do it.) We arrived on the last weekend in August (from the south) with a Reserved site (#005) with a gorgeous view of the Ruby Marsh (although it has a steep entry way..) and immediately the neighbors above us fired up their noisy generator and started playing screaming loud bad music… Then the neighbors to our immediate right started playing volleyball in the space between us and their off leash hunting dog ran out at our (tiny) dogs. Worst neighbors ever!! The camp host very graciously let us move to the Upper Loop which is much quieter. This is a lovely place to stay. Wonderful birds. Good place for canoe or small boat. But if you are coming on the weekend, or during summer high use times, best to choose the quieter upper loop. You can see the view from the road….